The Street Agent: After taking on the mob, the Klan and the Aryan Nations, he walks softly and carries a .357 Magnum -- The true storyWayne F. Manis

From author Wayne F. Manis

Within the FBI, the street agent is known as the heart of the Bureau. A street agent discovers and detects criminal activity. He then decides how best to attack it. Once the target is defined and a plan is formulated, the street agent ‘hits the bricks’ and systematically dismantles and destroys the criminal enterprise.

I was known as a street agent and so it is fitting that I have entitled my manuscript The Street Agent. Few agents in the history of the FBI have traveled as diverse a course as I did during my career. On the extreme left, I was undercover with the violent faction of “The Weather Underground.” On the extreme right, I worked with the “Ku Klux Klan” and investigated the Aryan Nations. Somewhere in between found me with the Mafia and their related organized crime figures.

As a team leader of an FBI SWAT Team, I engaged bank robbers, fugitives and terrorists in armed confrontations. I participated in my share of shootings and killings. These were not killings of anonymous or unfamiliar persons. These were people I knew. Some were people in my community where I knew members of their family. These were people I pursued and investigated for years. Their stories intertwine with mine. These stories I share are personal and compelling.

Near the end of my career, I spearheaded the F.B.I.’s largest domestic terrorism investigation prior to the Oklahoma City Bombing. The case was directed at a white supremacist group known as “The Order”. I led a team of agents in the search for these terrorists who threatened the members of the U. S. Congress and sent them a formal “Declaration of War.” They assassinated their enemies, committed multiple bombings, and robberies, including a 3.6 million dollar robbery of a Brink’s armored truck. With their stolen money, they purchased ‘state of the art’ weaponry to engage the FBI in armed confrontations. This was a ‘career case’ that other agents dream of but seldom get the opportunity to experience. For a period of time, this investigation was the #1 case in the FBI and the Director was briefed daily on its progress. As the case agent in charge of the investigation, I lived this war between the FBI Agents and these terrorists. I’m lucky. I survived a fiery gun battle in a secluded hideout with the terrorist group’s leader.

Unlike most books that have been written on FBI endeavors, this book contains selected stories in which I was the case agent, the SWAT Team Leader, or the undercover agent. Events are related through my eyes and as they unfolded in my presence. A day as a street agent included terrorists, Klansmen, mobsters, and murderers. I am now able to tell the tale of these incredible cases. In this book, the public gets a view inside the FBI at the street level where courageous men and women dedicate themselves to the never-ending war on crime.